Stir Up the Gift

by Mike Gerner

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Author: Mike Gerner
Editors: Teresa Seputis, Al Vesper

Sections:

1. Foundations

2. Basic Materials With Which To Work

3. Rules of Construction

4. Finishing Stages


Foundations

Introduction

Welcome to our short series on how to "stir up the gift". These simple teachings have been written for the prophetic-school Internet mailing list (1). This series is in response to a posting to the list which asked:

"I have heard some people teach on the concept of "stirring up the gift". Now I understand that this comes from 2 Timothy 1:6. But I really would like to stay away from some vague, "Christianese" answer and get down to some practical ways to do this."

This series is designed to provide some answers to that question in jargon- free language and to provide practical help for people walking at various different levels of prophetic gifting who want to "stir up the gift" within them, i.e. increase the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit inspired gift of prophecy in their lives.

This series is split into four sections. While the division into sections is in some ways arbitrary, the sections are intended to follow a progression similar to the stages involved in building a house. Thus we start at Section 1 (this section) which deals with the foundations which need to be in place for effective prophetic ministry. Section (2) covers the choice of basic materials with which to work. Section (3) covers rules of construction. Section (4) covers the finishing stages. All are important if we want a house that stands firm, won't collapse due to inferior materials, and has been built efficiently and is attractive!

I'd like to share two words of warning before we go any further.

First, God isn't just interested in making us "better prophets". He wants to transform us to be more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18) and to set us free in heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30) to worship Him. The things that we consider in this series are only a part of that process.

Secondly, remember that developing prophecy is not a logical progression of tasks to be performed. It is based on relationship. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are involved as well as fallible humans! This is not a "ten steps" prescription to a sure-fire powerful prophetic ministry. So as you read this series, ask the Lord to highlight the relevant bits deep into your personality. Don't worry about the rest - its time will come!

Definition

Let's look again at that text, with added emphasis on the key phrase for this study:

2 Tim 1:6
Therefore I remind you to STIR UP the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (NKJ)

Some versions of the Bible translate "stir up" slightly differently. The New International Version translates the original text more literally:

2 Tim 1:6
For this reason I remind you to FAN INTO FLAME the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (NIV)

Much of the New Testament was written in the Greek language of the time. Sometimes it can be helpful to research the original Greek words used in a particular verse. This can help us to get a grasp of the meaning of the verse beyond the understanding we might have by looking at the English words in our normal, modern context.

STIR, STIR UP (NOUN AND VERB)

1. anazopureo denotes "to kindle afresh," or "keep in full flame" (ana, "up," or "again," zoos, "alive," pur, "fire"), and is used metaphorically in <2 Tim. 1:6>, where "the gift of God" is regarded as a fire capable of dying out through neglect. The verb was in common use in the vernacular of the time. (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

Rather than see the fire dying out, we want to see how best to cause the gift of prophecy to blaze up more strongly.

Notice that the responsibility for this is placed on the person who has already received the gift. It is true that gifts of the Holy Spirit are distributed sovereignly by the Holy Spirit:

1 Cor 12:11
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. (NIV)

However 2 Timothy 1:6 and other scriptures such as Matthew 25:14-30 indicate that the way we handle that gift determines (a) how effective it is and (b) how God judges and rewards us. (2)

The picture is of a process whereby we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in increasing the intensity and consistency of the prophetic gifting (2 Peter 1:10). We will now go on to discuss some of the ways we can do precisely that.

Back to Basics

When my wife and I first saw our current house it didn't look very impressive. It was just a big pile of mud with some holes dug and concrete foundations laid. There were no walls let alone a roof. Yet how important it was that those foundations were laid properly! The security of the house we live in now depends upon it.

So it is with the prophetic ministry. Unless certain foundations are in place, the ministry is at best erratic and at worst can come crashing down. I know, I've seen it happen.

Here are some of the foundations we need to consider in order for the gift to be "stirred up".

  1. Relationship with Jesus

    Everything springs from our relationship with Jesus because we can't do anything without Him.

    John 15:5
    I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (NIV)

    Now, when we put our faith in Jesus, we automatically get a relationship with Him.

    John 1:12
    Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God... (NIV)

    That is the legal basis for our status as the children of God.

    But our relationship with Jesus goes beyond that, wonderful although it is.

    When my wife and I got married we signed a legal document which defined our relationship. But how we develop our relationship in practice depends on us. If our marriage stopped at a legal relationship, then we would fall far short of achieving the potential blessings of our partnership.

    If we use marriage as a picture of our relationship with Jesus, then we can quickly see how you can build on that relationship just as a loving wife builds a marriage relationship with her husband.

    First, you are responding to His love. He is the one who has reached out and sacrificed all for you. He is the one who continually loves you and reaches out to you. He is deeply and passionately in love with you and wants you to be with Him for EVER and EVER.

    Next, your heart must be in it. Your passions and desires are directed towards Him and none other.

    You spend time finding out about Him. How He feels about things, what His desires are. Pleasing Him becomes the most important thing in the world to you. All else is given up in comparison to the overwhelming joy of knowing Him (Philippians 3:8).

    You spend time sharing yourself with Him. The delightful thing is, the more you share of yourself the more love you can receive because with Him there is no condemnation or rejection.

    However, this relationship is NOT just to be a means to gaining a stronger gifting. Loving someone as a means to an end is, by definition, not really love. So right at the heart of increasing the prophetic we have this paradox - building a relationship which defines the prophetic (and all else) as secondary to knowing Him.

    Just hanging out together builds relationship. Tackling life's challenges together strengthens the cords of dependence and trust. Spend time getting to know Him, for that is the wellspring of life (John 10:10).

    Luke 10:38-42
    1. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
    2. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
    3. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
    4. "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
    5. but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (NIV)

  2. Love

    Love is a foundational element of moving in prophecy. It's certainly possible to minister without it, but the results are frequently disastrous.

    1 Cor 13:2
    If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (NIV)

    What is love and how do I "get" it?

    The best definition of love is found in the Bible:

    1 Cor 13:4-7
    1. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
    2. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
    3. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
    4. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (NIV)

    God is love (1 John 4:16), so He is the source of the love we experience and minister in.

    Rom 5:5
    ... God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (NIV)

    God supernaturally pours more love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We cooperate in that process by deciding that we want Him to do it, by asking Him to do it and by obeying the promptings of love when they come.

    My own experience is that the greatest release of visions and prophecy came into my life when Jesus met me in vision and simply told me that He loved me, in a manner which melted my heart.

    1 Jn 4:19
    We love because he first loved us. (NIV)

    A friend of mine who has ministered as a prophet for many years says that the greatest release of prophetic gifting came into his life when he met his wife and started to experience love in his own heart. That's when the Lord started to show him the thoughts of people's hearts (Mark 2:8).

    By the way, there is an error sometimes stated by some that "I'd rather follow love than the Gifts of the Spirit". The Bible makes it clear that it is not a matter of love OR the gifts of the Spirit, but of love AND the Gifts of the Spirit:

    1 Cor 14:1
    Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. (NIV)

    When you love someone then that is a powerful motivator for asking God to grant a word or revelation which will speak into that person's situation. Also, God can trust you with that kind of revelation because He knows that you are going to use it to bless the other person because you love them. When you love someone, especially with divinely inspired love, you don't want to manipulate or control them or even destroy them - which are some of the major pitfalls prophetic ministry can fall into.

    Having a deep revelation of God's love for us and for other people is a fundamental part of effectively ministering in the prophetic.

  3. Having a gifting from God

    Going back to a point we saw earlier, it is the LORD who gives the gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 12:11). Unless you have that gift from the Lord as the basis, then there really isn't much point trying to "stir it up". No amount of human effort will do it.

    How does one get a full blown gift of prophecy (by which I mean the ability to prophesy consistently and accurately, not just give an occasional word) from the Lord? There are various alternative ways or combinations of ways. Here are some.

    1. Believe that it is available for anybody (1 Corinthians 14:31) and just ask! (Luke 11:9-13) Keep asking (Luke 18:1).
    2. Receive a calling from God to exercise the ministry (Jeremiah 1:5)
    3. Have a family history of such ministry (Deuteronomy 5:9-10, Amos 7:14)
    4. Be in places where the Holy Spirit is moving and/or among people who are prophesying (1 Samuel 10:10-11)
    5. Be in a position of authority/responsibility (Daniel 4:1-2,3:25,2:27)
    6. Have someone in ministry lay hands on you (particularly for the gift) (2 Timothy 1:6)
    7. Serve someone who is a prophet (Matthew 10:41, 2 Kings 3:11)
    8. Have someone prophetic pray increased discernment for you (2 Kings 6:15-17)
    9. Be available to listen to the Lord (Acts 13:2)
    10. Be faithful in other, less public, giftings (Matthew 25:23)
    11. Be a son or daughter, old or young, who is following the Lord in the last days (Acts 2:17)

    A word of warning in all the above: attempting to gain a gifting from God for the wrong motives can be dangerous (Acts 8:18-22). Which is why we are covering Foundations and motives in our first two teachings.

    Finally, an important point. Once you have received a gift from the Lord, He will never take it away from you (Romans 11:29). Through disuse and neglect it can die down like an untended fire, but it will never go. It will just be waiting to be fanned into flame again.

  4. Serving

    1 Pet 4:10
    Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. (NIV)

    Matt 20:26-28
    1. ...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
    2. and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--
    3. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
    4. just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (NIV)

    Acts 2:18
    Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (NIV)

    Effective prophecy springs from a servant heart. Jesus insisted on this as an essential qualification for rank in God's kingdom. If you want to be a prophet, be prepared to serve!

    Having a servant heart means, among other things:

    1. Wanting to obey the Master as the highest of priorities
    2. Delighting in seeing others blessed more than yourself
    3. Giving freely without concern for amassing wealth
    4. Actively avoiding public recognition
    5. Counting others as more important than oneself
    6. Thinking about the needs of others and how they can be met
    7. Cleaning up the messes made by others

Summary

In this teaching we have concentrated on some foundational matters to be considered when stirring up the prophetic.

We have seen that all prophecy flows from relationship with Jesus. Making that relationship a priority is the key to everything in Christianity, not just prophecy.

We have seen the core value in prophecy is love, both for Jesus and for others. Unless that core value is there the ministry will at best be ineffective and at worst destructive.

We have seen that you need a gift from God before it can be fanned into flame and explored some of the ways that gift comes from the Lord. Those who saw that short list as pretty all inclusive, well done! That is precisely the point. According to His will God can distribute these gifts to whomever He chooses.

Finally, we looked at the need to have a servant heart and what that means in practice.

Looking Forward

In the next section we will look at some of the building materials, i.e. attitudes of heart which are needed for us to effectively stir up the gift. Among other things we will look at obedience, the desire for gifts and faith. I look forward to joining you then!

Questions for Consideration

Q1. Why has this section spent so much time on issues one might not initially think of being directly relevant to the prophetic? Do you think this was necessary? Why so (or why not)?

Q2. When dealing with this subject, how can we avoid the danger of approaching it as a "recipe for success" rather than as a relationship? Is that important?

Q3. Have you seen "bad" (i.e. unedifying) prophetic ministry? (Please don't mention names and remember that these perceptions are necessarily limited). If so, could you trace the problem to one or more of the foundational issues discussed here? Which one(s)? What has that taught you about effective prophetic ministry?

Q4. If you had to list the "heart attitudes" necessary to the prophetic (or even just beneficial to the prophetic) which ones would you list? While allowing for the grace of God in our lives, how can we work on these areas to cultivate them in our own hearts?


Basic Materials With Which To Work

Introduction

Welcome again to our short series on how to "stir up the gift". This is number two is a short series of four simple teachings written for the prophetic-school Internet mailing list. The series is in response to a posting to the list which asked:

"I have heard some people teach on the concept of "stirring up the gift". Now I understand that this comes from 2 Timothy 1:6. But I really would like to stay away from some vague, "Christianese" answer and get down to some practical ways to do this."

This series is designed to provide some answers to that question in jargon free language and to provide practical help for people walking at various different levels of prophetic gifting who want to "stir up the gift" within them i.e. increase the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit inspired gift of prophecy in their lives.

The series is split into four sections. While the division into sections is in some ways arbitrary, the sections are intended to follow a progression similar to the stages involved in building a house. Thus we started at Section (1), which dealt with the foundations which need to be in place for effective prophetic ministry. Section (2) (this section) covers the choice of basic materials with which to work. Section (3) covers rules of construction. Section (4) covers the finishing stages. All are important if we want a house that stands firm, won't collapse due to inferior materials, has been built efficiently and is attractive!

I'd like to clarify a couple of things before we go any further.

First, God isn't just interested in making us "better prophets". He wants to transform us to be more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18) and to set us free in heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30) to worship Him. The things that we consider in this series are only a part of that process.

Second, remember that developing prophecy is not a logical progression of tasks to be performed. It is based on relationship. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are involved as well as fallible humans! This is not a "ten steps" prescription to a sure-fire powerful prophetic ministry. So as you read this series, ask the Lord to highlight the relevant bits deep into your personality. Don't worry about the rest - its time will come!

Recap

In the last teaching we concentrated on some foundational matters to be considered when stirring up the prophetic.

We saw that all prophecy flows from relationship with Jesus. Making that relationship a priority is the key to everything in Christianity, not just prophecy.

We saw that the core value in prophecy is love, both for Jesus and for others. Unless that core value is there, the ministry will at best be ineffective and at worst destructive.

We saw that you need a gift from God before it can be fanned into flame and listed some of the ways that gift comes from the Lord. The list was pretty all inclusive because, according to His will, God can distribute these gifts to whomever He chooses.

Finally, we looked at the need to have a servant heart and what that means in practice.

Attitudes Of Heart

Moving on from the last point in the previous teaching, we are going to look at some of the attitudes of heart which help to promote ("stir up") the prophetic. (By the way, by "heart" we mean the deep inner motivations of a person, not the physical organ in his or her chest).

True prophecy comes from God:
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet 1:21 NIV)

God looks at the heart rather than our external appearance / performance:
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. (1 Sam 16:7 NIV)

All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. (Prov 21:2 NIV)

So when God is evaluating to whom He is going to give a prophetic gifting, it seems logical that an important part of His evaluation lies in examining the heart of the person:

"I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." (Jer 17:10 NIV)

Indeed it is from the heart that our conduct in life comes:

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (Prov 4:23 NIV) - see also Matthew 12:34

This leaves us with two questions. Question (1) is, "What attitudes do we need in our heart in order to 'stir up the gift'?" We're hopefully going to provide some answers to that question in the remaining paragraphs of this teaching.

Question (2) is, "How do we change our heart to have these attitudes?"

The Bible makes it clear that ultimately it is God who changes hearts:

The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. (Prov 21:1 NIV) - see also Psalm 33:15, Psalm 51:10

So the most important step is to ask the Lord to change us - and then cooperate with whatever process He uses to do so! (Psalm 26:2-3)

Here are just some of the other important steps the Christian can take to change his or her heart:

  1. Read and meditate upon scripture and personal prophecies from the Lord (Psalm 119:11, 1 Timothy 1:18)
  2. Spend time worshipping (Psalm 9:1)
  3. Learn to speak truth from the heart i.e. with integrity (Psalm 15:2)
  4. Choose to have the thoughts of your heart be pleasing to God (Psalm 19:14)
  5. Ruthlessly root out sin from your heart as God reveals it (Psalm 24:4)
  6. Spend time seeking God in personal prayer and Bible study (Psalm 27:8)
  7. Repeatedly being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18, Romans 5:5)

Let us now look at some of the heart attitudes conducive towards "stirring up" the gift of prophecy.

Summary

In this teaching we have covered some of the attitudes of heart which help "stir up" the prophetic gift within us. We have seen that God places a high value on our heart attitudes and we looked at some of the ways we can cooperate with the Lord in changing our heart.

We then covered some desirable heart attitudes. First we looked at obedience and saw how important a strong desire to obey the Lord is to the prophet. Even Jesus had to learn such obedience!

We then saw the need to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts such that this is a passionate flame within you.

We saw the need to exercise faith and grow in faith. We covered some practical means by which you can do this.

We covered the importance of humility and the very particular danger faced by the prophet in this area if that attitude is not maintained. Pride is one of the fastest ways for a prophet to "go wrong" (which is far more fundamental than just "being wrong" in a particular prophecy) and is a particularly strong temptation for the prophet. We looked at some of the reasons for that and some of the things that we can do (or have done to us!) to help us gain humility.

A strong desire to see Jesus glorified is another important way to "stir up" the prophetic gift.

One must be willing to take risks to grow in the prophetic.

Finally, by relating properly to the rest of the body of Christ and having them relate to you, a major "stirring up" of the gift can occur.

Looking Forward

In the next section of teaching we will examine some of the rules of construction i.e. the basic disciplines which play an important part in "stirring up the gift". We'll look at how things like spending time with God, meditating on the Bible, receiving impartation, fasting and praying in the Spirit can help this whole process.

Questions for Consideration

Q1. What are some the ways the Lord has used to change your heart?

Q2. Why do you desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit?

Q3. How has God humbled you in the past?

Q4. What was the riskiest prophecy you ever received? Did you share it? What happened?

Q5. Do you think the body of Christ in the church today is ready for prophetic ministry? In what areas? Why do you think this? What needs to happen for the prophetic to function properly in the body?

Q6. Do you normally associate prophets with being disciplined people? Is that a valid issue for prophets to pursue? (Hint: 1 Corinthians 9:27, 2 Timothy 2:3-6). What area(s) of discipline do you believe the Lord is inspiring you about?

Notes

(1) OK, so "break spiritual strongholds" is Christian jargon. I confess. But this is a big concept and in this case jargon encapsulates it neatly without quadrupling the size of this study to explain it. Briefly, if you - or the people whom you are serving by prophesying - have been subjected to teaching against prophecy (such as 'prophecy is not for today', or 'prophecy ceased with the writing of the Bible', or 'prophecy is of the devil', etc.) then you likely have a problem which limits the amount of faith you can exercise in this area. I recommend you do the following: (a) repent of that teaching (b) renounce and reject it and (c) pray in authority over it to destroy its hold on your thinking (2 Corinthians 10:5) - preferably with the active agreement of at least one other mature Christian (Matthew 18:19).


Rules of Construction

Introduction

The series is split into four sections. While the division into sections is in some ways arbitrary, the sections are intended to follow a progression similar to the stages involved in building a house. Thus we started at week 1, which dealt with the foundations which need to be in place for effective prophetic ministry. Week 2 covered the choice of basic materials with which to work. Week 3 (this section) will cover rules of construction. Week 4 will cover the finishing stages. All are important if we want a house that stands firm, won't collapse due to inferior materials, has been built efficiently and is attractive!

Remember that developing prophecy is not a logical progression of tasks to be performed. It is based on relationship. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are involved as well as fallible humans! This is not a "ten steps" prescription to a sure-fire powerful prophetic ministry. So as you read this series, ask the Lord to highlight the relevant bits deep into your personality. Don't worry about the rest - its time will come!

Recap

In our last teaching we covered some of the attitudes of heart which help "stir up" the prophetic gift within us. We saw that God places a high value on our heart attitudes and we looked at some of the ways we can cooperate with the Lord in changing our heart.

We then covered some desirable heart attitudes. First we looked at obedience and saw how important a strong desire to obey the Lord is to the prophet. Even Jesus had to learn such obedience!

We then saw the need to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts such that this is a passionate flame within you.

We saw the need to exercise faith and grow in faith. We covered some practical means by which you can do this.

We covered the importance of humility and the very particular danger faced by the prophet in this area if that attitude is not maintained. Pride is one of the fastest ways for a prophet to "go wrong" (which is far more fundamental than just "being wrong" in a particular prophecy) and is a particularly strong temptation for the prophet. We looked at some of the reasons for that and some of the things that we can do (or have done to us!) to help us gain humility.

We covered how a strong desire to see Jesus glorified is another important way to "stir up" the prophetic gift.

We saw the importance of being willing to take risks to grow in the prophetic.

Finally, we saw how, by relating properly to the rest of the body of Christ and having them relate to you, a major "stirring up" of the gift can occur.

Godly Practices

In construction, years of experience have taught the successful workers how best to carry out their tasks. Similarly, when considering how to stir up the gift of prophecy, there are certain ways of doing things which can help us. I have called these "Godly Practices".

  1. Spending Time with God

    Following on from the importance of relationship with the Lord, it is obviously vital for the prophet to actively set aside time to seek the Lord, enjoy His presence and listen to His voice.

    Ps 130:6
    My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. (NIV)

    Throughout scripture, one important role for the prophet is to act as a watchman, warning the people of danger to come.

    Jer 6:17
    I appointed watchmen over you and said, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But you said, 'We will not listen.' (NIV)

    Obviously, to be a watchman requires one to spend time watching!

    Jesus obeyed this pattern of setting aside time to communicate with His Father. He often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:16).

    The practice of actively spending time drawing close to the Lord changes our whole lifestyle and is an important key to prophetic effectiveness:

    Isa 40:31
    But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they Shall walk, and not faint. (KJV)

    The Hebrew word for "wait upon" is qavah (kaw-vaw'); which means to bind together (perhaps by twisting). The image is of the child of God binding his heart together with the Lord so that communication takes place in a deep, nonverbal manner. It sensitizes the prophet to the Spirit of God and enables much deeper revelation to flow.

  2. Bible Study

    The prophet is no exception to 2 Tim 3:16-17: (NIV)

    1. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
    2. so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

    Volumes have been written about the benefits of reading, praying over and meditating upon the Bible. I'm not going to repeat that material here! However, Bible study is of particular benefit to stirring up prophetic gifting for the following reasons:

    1. The Bible was written at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, therefore by reading it one is tuned to the Holy Spirit and what He wants to say / do.
    2. God will often bring a "rhema" (a specific and applicable word) which is based on scripture or may even be a direct quote of scripture. Both this and direct commands have a place in spiritual warfare. After all, Jesus used both when resisting Satan (Matt 4:3-12)
    3. All prophecy is subject to scriptural testing, thus knowing scripture provides a safeguard for the prophet as well as allowing him or her to function in the prophetic role of testing other prophecies (1 Cor 14:29)
    4. Reading the Bible allows the prophet to see some of the ways in which the Lord uses prophets to bring His message. The use of drama, for example, might not be particularly in one's mind when somebody else speaks of prophesying. Yet drama was a very powerful means of showing or speaking forth God's word and was used by many prophets (e.g. Isaiah 20:1-4)
    5. The Holy Spirit often gives visions based on scriptural concepts. By knowing the Bible one can more easily interpret the meaning of these visions. While all things are subject to the Spirit, there is no law against prophets using their minds (as inspired by the Lord) (Mark 12:30)
    6. God often speaks directly into the prophet's own life and situation through scriptures.

  3. Impartation

    Spiritual power such as a gift of prophecy can be imparted i.e. started up or fanned into a brighter flame by other Christians. Examples of how this is done include:

    1. laying on hands (2 Tim 1:6),
    2. breathing on people (John 20:22, John 14:12),
    3. prophesying a gift into somebody (1 Tim 4:14 - note the combination of laying on of hands)
    4. a person touching the prophet's clothing (see Luke 8:46, "power" or "virtue" is a translation of the Greek word "dunamis" which describes the power of the Holy Spirit, Who supplies giftings such as prophecy)
    5. playing music (2 Kings 3:15-19)
    6. simple physical proximity with someone who ministers in a powerful prophetic anointing (1 Samuel 19:23-24)
    7. water baptism (Matt 3:16)
    8. praying for someone (2 Kings 6:15-17)

    While it is the Holy Spirit who actually gives spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:11), He seems quite happy to use human agents at times in this process, just as the Lord does with so many others e.g. evangelism!

  4. Works of the Kingdom

    James 2:26
    As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead (NIV).

    We also know from Romans 12:6 that prophesying can occur in proportion to faith. It is therefore fairly evident that when one is doing the works of the Father that increased deeds signify increased faith which facilitates increased prophesying! Jesus is specifically mentioned as being anointed to do the works of the Kingdom (Luke 4:18-19), and His prophets are no exception.

    There is of course a balance in this with the principle we discussed earlier of concentrating not so much on doing good deeds as on having relationship with the Lord (see Teaching 1 in this series). Nonetheless, it is a scriptural pattern that the deeds do flow out of the relationship (James 3:13). How often one finds that extra depth of spiritual discernment that kicks in just at the time when you need it when witnessing about Jesus (Acts 14:9)!

  5. Fasting

    Much has been written by others far better qualified than I about the benefits of fasting. Time and again the Bible records how in seasons of fasting and prayer the Holy Spirit speaks (e.g. Acts 13:2).

    Every effective prophetic ministry which I have encountered has been found in people who have fasted and prayed. Which comes first I am not sure, nonetheless it does seem that often by fasting, one opens spiritual discernment more readily. It certainly has a more powerful effect on the spiritual realms (Daniel 10, Matt 4:1-2 etc.).

  6. Praying in the Spirit

    By praying in the Spirit I mean praying in tongues, although there can be much more to praying in the Spirit than just using one's prayer language.

    By praying in the Spirit one can:

    1. Find prophecy flowing as a "natural" accompaniment (Acts 19:6)
    2. Edify i.e. build up yourself (1 Corinthians 14:4, Jude 1:20)
    3. Get involved in spiritual warfare (Eph 6:18)
    4. Grant control of one's tongue to the Holy Spirit (James 3:2-5), thus facilitating prophecy

    The apostle Paul was able to thank God for being able to speak in tongues even more than the Corinthians (1 Cor 14:18) so he evidently thought it a worthwhile exercise!

  7. Pursue Holiness

    While it is only the Lord who can clean up our act, there is also a degree of responsibility on our part:

    Heb 12:14
    Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no-one will see the Lord. (NIV)

    What does "holiness" mean?

    HOLINESS, HOLY

    Nouns.
    1. hagiasmos, translated "holiness" in the KJV of (Rom. 6:19,22; 1 Thes. 4:7; 1 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 12:14), is always rendered "sanctification" in the RV. It signifies
    1. separation to God, (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Thes. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2);
    2. the resultant state, the conduct befitting those so separated, (1 Thes. 4:3,4, 7), and the four other places mentioned above.
    "Sanctification" is thus the state predetermined by God for believers, into which in grace He calls them, and in which they begin their Christian course and so pursue it. Hence they are called "saints" (hagioi). See SANCTIFICATION. (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words) (Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

    Pursuing holiness therefore means setting apart oneself from other "worldly" pursuits in order to be closer to God. It results in our conduct changing. To go on from Heb 12:14, we can say that participating in the Lord's refining process allows us to see Him more clearly and hence prophesy more effectively.

    Every significant prophetic ministry I have known has had this imprint of setting aside other desires and activities in order to be closer to the Lord and live a life pleasing to Him.

    One danger of this process is slipping into striving (where you are endeavoring to improve yourself by your own effort). Another associated danger is self righteousness. A sure sign of self righteousness is when you catch yourself looking down on other people instead of seeking to serve them. The Holy Spirit can help you avoid these, a bit of good, solid failure on your part usually does the trick!

Summary

There are certain regular practices which can help us stir up the gift of prophecy.

Spending time communicating with the Lord is one such practice. Binding our heart to the Lord's heart sensitizes us to Him and to what He is saying.

The Bible is the Holy Spirit's book. By spending time studying it we can be guarded from prophetic errors and can improve our ability to discern the true from the false in prophecy. We also get our eyes opened to some of the ways the Lord often speaks through prophets.

By coming into contact with other Godly people, we can receive a "kick start" or "power boost" in the prophetic. This process is known as "impartation".

By becoming practically involved in doing the works of the Kingdom we increase our faith which in turn facilitates the flow of the prophetic. We also place ourselves into situations where the Holy Spirit is more likely to speak.

Fasting and praying involves us more deeply in the spiritual realm and increases the prophetic.

Praying in the Spirit (specifically in tongues) is the Christian equivalent of weight training. It can work wonders!

Finally, consciously choosing to obey the Lord and set oneself aside to be close to Him brings a lifestyle change that speaks prophetically to others as well as increasing the accuracy of the prophetic. With less dirt in the way the water flows more clearly! (John 7:38,39)

Looking Forward

In the next and last section of teaching we will examine some of the ways in which the prophetic gift can go on to maturity. These are the "finishing" stages of construction and help graduate the prophetic ministry into a seasoned and effective tool in the Kingdom of God.

Questions for Consideration

Q1. When do you find the most effective times to be spent with God? Is it a regular time? If so, when? If it is an irregular thing, how do you find that effective? Are both regular and irregular times useful? If so, why? How do you prevent these times from becoming a lifeless, religious duty?

Q2. What scriptures have been especially influential in shaping how you see and understand the prophetic? Has God spoken prophetically in your experience through scripture? Have there been times when you have seen how some-one with scriptural knowledge was able to gently correct or redirect or clarify a "prophetic word"?

Q3. Have you received an impartation from other Christians? How do you know (hint: think of fruits)? How was the "dunamis" transmitted? Why do you think Paul warned Timothy not to be too hasty when laying on hands (1 Tim 5:22)?

Q4. What are the "works of the Kingdom"? List some. Have you seen a link between some (or all) of these works and flowing in the prophetic? Describe such occurrences.

Q5. Why do you think fasting has a positive effect on prophetic gifting? Are there occasions or reasons why sometimes fasting is ineffective?

Q6. What are some of the other ways of "praying in the Spirit" other than praying in tongues? What are some of the practical benefits of praying in tongues?

Q7. What has God been doing in your life recently to increase your "holiness" i.e. state of being set apart for the Lord? Have you asked Him to refine you in some way recently? What happened? Do you agree that a sense of "holiness" is prevalent in prophetic ministries? What happens when it is not - thinking particularly of Matthew 7:1-2?

Q8. How can you avoid discouragement when considering this long list of helpful disciplines which nobody seems to be able to do consistently? Does the word "grace" sound rather encouraging around about now?


Finishing Stages

Introduction

Welcome again to our short series on how to "stir up the gift". This is the last in a short series of four simple teachings written to address the question, "how do I stir up my spiritual gift"?

The series is split into four sections. While the division into sections is in some ways arbitrary, the sections are intended to follow a progression similar to the stages involved in building a house. Thus we started at Section (1), which dealt with the foundations which need to be in place for effective prophetic ministry. We then moved on to Section (2), which covered the choice of basic materials with which to work. Section (3) covered rules of construction. Section (4) (this section) covers the finishing stages. All are important if we want a house that stands firm, won't collapse due to inferior materials, has been built efficiently and is attractive!

I'd like to repeat a couple of things before we go any further.

Firstly, God isn't just interested in making us "better prophets". He wants to transform us to be more like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18) and to set us free in heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30) to worship Him. The things that we consider in this series are only a part of that process.

Secondly, remember that developing prophecy is not a logical progression of tasks to be performed. It is based on relationship. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are involved as well as fallible humans! This is not a "ten steps" prescription to a sure-fire powerful prophetic ministry. So as you read this series, ask the Lord to highlight the relevant bits deep into your personality. Don't worry about the rest - its time will come!

Recap

In our last teaching we saw that there are certain regular practices which can help us stir up the gift of prophecy. We covered some of those practices.

Spending time communicating with the Lord was one. We saw how binding our heart to the Lord's heart sensitizes us to Him and to what He is saying.

We covered how the Bible is the Holy Spirit's book and that by spending time studying it we can be guarded from prophetic errors, we can improve our ability to discern the true from the false in prophecy and we can also get our eyes opened to some of the ways the Lord often speaks through prophets.

We saw how the process of impartation i.e. coming into a specific type of contact with other Godly people, can give us a "kick start" or "power boost" in the prophetic realm.

We saw how by becoming practically involved in doing the works of the Kingdom we increase our faith which in turn facilitates the flow of the prophetic. We also thus place ourselves into situations where the Holy Spirit is more likely to speak.

We briefly covered how fasting and praying involves us more deeply in the spiritual realm and increases the prophetic.

We saw that praying in the Spirit (specifically in tongues) is the Christian equivalent of weight training and can work wonders!

Finally, we covered how consciously choosing to obey the Lord and set oneself aside to be close to Him brings a lifestyle change that speaks prophetically to others as well as increasing the accuracy of the prophetic. With less dirt in the way the water flows more clearly! (John 7:38,39)

Going on to Maturity

While on this side of heaven, one never finally reaches a stage in the Christian life where one can say "I've arrived", however there are certain things which move us towards a measure of maturity in the prophetic. The crossover between this section and our last section (Rules of Construction) is a little blurred. Many items would fit in both sections. It just depends on the degree of application in one's life.

However, at this stage it is especially important to remember that God is primarily interested in forming character within us. Rom 8:29 says, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (NIV)

Sometimes He will concentrate on forming character to the seeming detriment of practicing the prophetic, but that's OK - the timing of these things is in His control! (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

  1. Using What You've Got

    Consistent practice of the prophetic is the mark of a maturing gifting. Just like the mailman delivers the mail, so the prophet delivers prophecies!

    1 Tim 4:14-15
    1. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
    2. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. (NIV)

    By using what you have, you also clear the way for the Lord to give you more (Matt 25:21).

    Consistently delivering words from the Lord which prove accurate encourages you and builds your faith - and we know the close link between faith and the prophetic by now! (Romans 12:6)

  2. Knowing God's Discipline

    Heb 12:11
    No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (NIV)

    Rev 3:19
    Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. (NIV)

    Note that God's discipline is not designed to make us feel bad about ourselves, rather to come to our senses about particular behavior and ask forgiveness, thus receiving His grace and strength to overcome.

    When we are growing in the prophetic we make messes along the way (1 Corinthians 13:9). God covers this with His love while we learn better ways to do things (1 Peter 4:8). However, when we have a deep relationship with the Lord and have received a significant depth of revelation, even seemingly minor infringements of His will carry a deeper consequence (Exodus 33:11 & Numbers 20:8-12, 1 Corinthians 4:2). A significant mark of the mature or maturing prophet is his or her ability to receive discipline from the Lord and learn from it while retaining a loving and trusting relationship with Him.

  3. Winning Battles

    People who want to grow in the prophetic face many battles in life. The more battles you win (a) the more you realize your utter dependence on God's grace and (b) the stronger in the faith you become because you are trusting in Him more (Ephesians 6:10). You can tell a mature prophet because he or she bears the marks of grace in his or her life in certain areas where a struggle has taken place. They have an air of rest or confidence because time and again they have hit a battle and have overcome by God's grace.

    Some of the battles faced by prophets, in addition to the "normal" Christian battles, include:

    1. The temptation to become embroiled in the things of the world (2 Tim 4:10) and lose the prophetic "edge"
    2. The temptation to pride (2 Corinthians 12:7)
    3. The temptation to place other things before Jesus (Mark 12:30)
    4. The temptation to go for a name for oneself rather than exalt Jesus (Rev 19:10, Luke 14:33)
    5. The temptation to place one's own ministry ahead of relationships with other people, especially your own family (1 Peter 3:7). This is putting the cart before the horse as ministry is given FOR people (Luke 4:18-19, 1 Corinthians 12:7)
    6. The temptation to judge (i.e. condemn) because of prophetic revelation received (Luke 6:37)
    7. The temptation to give in to despair (1 Kings 19:3-4, v3 "saw" KJV at least implies spiritual foresight)
    8. The temptation to give in to the fear of man (Proverbs 29:25)
    9. The temptation to give up (Galatians 6:9) instead of receiving strength from the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6)
    10. The temptation to individualism (1 Corinthians 12:6-25)
    11. The temptation to speak what people want to hear (2 Tim 4:3)
    12. The temptation to speak out the wishes / delusions of one's own mind (Jer 14:13-14) - particularly dangerous when used to control others
    13. The temptation to bypass or even break the Godly (as opposed to worldly) authority structure in church (Hebrews 13:17)
    14. The temptation to impatience because other church members don't "see" the message as clearly as you do. (As a rule of thumb it takes 1 year of constant repetition of a message before it brings major change to a church - of course, the Holy Spirit can shorten that time period somewhat where people are flexible!) Note how the Holy Spirit spoke to Paul and Barnabus yet they waited until other leadership confirmed the call (Acts 13:1-3).

    There are battles to be fought and hardships to be endured (2 Tim 2:3) but they increase maturity!

  4. Dare to be Different

    Heb 13:11-14
    1. The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.
    2. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.
    3. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.
    4. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. (NIV)

    One of the marks of mature prophetic ministry is a willingness to go beyond the normal, to go "outside the camp" i.e. into new and uncharted territories. Daring to be different from the norms of churchianity brings openness to the wind of the Holy Spirit. Over the centuries prophets have been asked to do pretty "off the wall" (i.e. weird) things. Here's just a short selection:

    1. sacrifice their only son (Genesis 22:1-18 - but see Jeremiah 32:35) for God's normal opinion on such actions!)
    2. leave their hair uncut (Judges 13:5)
    3. marry an adulteress (Hosea 1:2)
    4. give their children names reflecting national level works of God (Hosea 1:4 etc.)
    5. travel to a nation oppressing their own to warn them of God's judgement that they might be saved through repenting (Jonah 1:1-2)
    6. make a yoke and wear it every day (Jeremiah 27:2)
    7. go through a range of strange actions for 430 days, including eating food prepared in a forbidden manner (Ezekiel 4)
    8. cut your beard with a sharp sword, then divide the hair into thirds and burn / chop / throw it away (Ezekiel 5:1-4)
    9. go and pray over a guy holding a license to deport and imprison you (Acts 9:10-14)
    10. ask somebody to strike you with a weapon (possibly a sword) (1 Kings 20:35-37 - by the way there were no antibiotics or sterile bandages in those days)

    I think we'd all agree that prophesying, especially through such prophetic acts, demands a certain willingness to be different and to bear the shame, scoffing and character assassination that often ensues. Yet its effectiveness can be dramatic. I know of a meeting where one lady gave out a vision of a shopping bag with a certain store's name on it: there was no interpretation, the lady just "felt" the Lord insisting that she share it. Much to her relief, the message was extremely relevant to somebody else in the congregation and the Lord used it to minister into a hidden situation!

  5. Learn From Mistakes

    I remember reading a statement to this effect:

    "The fool never learns from his mistakes and suffers accordingly. The wise man learns from his mistakes. But the truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others."

    When King David tried to bring the ark of the Lord into Jerusalem the wrong way a man died. Plans were halted! But David learned from his mistake and when he later transported the ark in a proper manner then blessing followed (2 Samuel 6).

    We prophesy in part (1 Corinthians 13:9) and must test/judge prophesying (1 Corinthians 14:29, 1 Thess 5:19-22). I believe these verses mean that prophets can make mistakes(1). But in the Kingdom of God by grace we can move on from these mistakes into more accurate prophecy.

    There are lots of mistakes recorded in the Bible to help us avoid them (2 Tim 3:16-17) and several Christians have shared honest testimonies of mistakes they have made. Let us learn from these and move on into prophetic maturity.

    By the way, if you ever come across a prophet who never admits to making a mistake in his life then run quickly in the opposite direction!

  6. Prophetic Actions

    Mark 12:30 tells us that God wants us to worship Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength. In other words, our love for Him is shown in deeds as well as words. In a similar manner, actions can be used to demonstrate prophetically a message from God. By yielding our body to the Holy Spirit to do this (even in something as simple as a dance or raising one's arms in public) we are learning the process of being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and we are thus stirring up the gift within us. There is a strong element of "daring to be different" (see the earlier section) in this process.

    There is something very humbling about publicly doing something regarded as foolish. But time and again we see that God blesses obedience (2 John 1:6, 2 Chronicles 31:21).

    Some prophetic actions recorded in the Bible (2) include:

    1. Striking the Nile with a stick and turning it into blood (Exodus 7:20)
    2. Tearing a prophet's robe (1 Samuel 15:27-28) - note this was an inadvertent action with prophetic significance
    3. Firing an arrow and striking the ground with a quiver of arrows, bringing military victory to God's people (2 Kings 13:14-19). Note that the victory would have been greater if the action had been carried out with more gusto (v19)!
    4. Raising arms in prayer bringing victory over the enemy (Exodus 17:10-12)
    5. Roaring like a lion to express the anger and majesty of the Lord (Proverbs 19:12)
    6. Wiping dust off one's feet to disassociate oneself with a town and mark it for judgement (Matthew 10:14-15)

    In some circles it might be regarded as controversial that small physical actions can result in spiritual or physical changes on a much grander scale. I believe several of the above scriptures adequately illustrate the point that when we act as prompted by the Holy Spirit the consequences can be far greater than we imagine. How arrogant to presume that physical actions which we can see have no effect in the spiritual realm (Eph 6:12) which we cannot (normally) see. The Bible clearly shows that small prophetic actions can have tremendous significance. I believe that this is an important weapon in the arsenal of the prophet - indeed, of every Christian.

  7. Fillings with the Holy Spirit

    Eph 5:18 ...be filled with the Spirit. (NIV)

    The Greek for "be filled" is "pleerousthe". I am informed by someone who knows a lot more Greek than I do (not a considerable accolade) that the tense of this verb is present continuous. In other words, this command could be translated "keep on being filled with the Spirit". Repeated fillings are indicated.

    This is borne out by other scriptures, which record for example several "fillings by the Spirit" on individuals:

    • Acts 2:4 all the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit
    • Acts 4:8 Peter filled with the Holy Spirit
    • Acts 4:31 all the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit (again)
    • Acts 9:17 Paul prayed to be filled with the Holy Spirit
    • Acts 13:9 Paul filled with the Holy Spirit to confront a magician
    • Acts 13:52 Paul, Barnabus and the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit

    I therefore conclude that filling by the Holy Spirit is not a once only experience but can occur repeatedly. The effects on the prophetic of being filled by the Holy Spirit, who gives the gift of prophecy, can be imagined! What a wonderful way to stir up the gift of prophecy - "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart... For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45 NIV)

    No wonder we are commanded in Ephesians to seek this experience, over and over again. When filled with the Holy Spirit, the impossible is seen as easy, the enemy is seen to be defeated, the prophetic is seen as normal. We echo the prayer of Moses:

    Num 11:29
    ... I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" (NIV)

Summary

There are certain practices which help us towards a more mature exercising of the gift of prophecy.

Using the prophetic gifts that the Lord has given enables us to grow that gifting more.

Receiving the discipline of the Lord refines us and purifies the prophetic "edge" in our lives.

Winning battles, many of which are against temptations that are particularly strong for prophets, brings maturity as well as a deeper knowledge of God's grace in our lives.

Daring to do weird things or bring strange messages at the Lord's instruction are a major test of the prophet's effectiveness.

Mistakes we or others make can be powerful lessons enabling us to move on and learn more of the ways of God in prophecy.

Actions we undertake can have a prophetic significance which change the course of the future. Such actions can seem foolish but can be remarkably effective on a national scale.

Filling by the Holy Spirit has a radical accelerating effect on the prophetic and is to be sought continuously.

Questions for Consideration

Q1. Are there seasons in a prophet's life when he (or she) does not share any prophecies? Why might that be?

Q2. What are some of the ways in which the Lord disciplines us? How are they designed to bring us closer to Him?

Q3. Are there other temptations that prophets face in particular? Why are they particularly dangerous for prophets?

Q4. Do you personally know of prophets / prophetesses who have been asked by the Lord to do weird things? What was the outcome? How do we differentiate between God calling people to do something weird versus the weird and wacky that does not come from God and just puts people off unnecessarily?

Q5. What mistakes have you made in the prophetic? What did you learn from them?

Q6. Have you seen actions performed in public which were deemed as prophetic? If so, what action? Were the effects seen in events afterwards or were they discerned by prophetic people with no clearly identifiable physical effect? Is it desirable to keep a guardedly open mind on allegedly "prophetic actions" until such time as testing (such as by their fruits) indicates their status? If so, why? If not, why not?

Q7. To what extent is "being filled with the Holy Spirit" a one time experience or a continuous state of being? Do you agree with Spurgeon's point which he made when asked why he needed to be repeatedly filled with the Spirit, "Because I leak!"?

Notes

  1. One such example may well be found in Acts.

    Acts 21:10-11
    1. After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
    2. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" (NIV)

    In actual fact, some of the detail of this was not quite accurate. The Jews did not hand Paul over to the Gentiles, they tried to kill him. And the Gentiles came by force to take him away into imprisonment (Acts 21:26-33). However the main gist of the prophecy was accurate.

  2. Just because a specific action is not recorded in the Bible does not mean that it cannot be a valid prophetic expression (John 21:25). When evaluating or testing such actions (1 Thess 5:19-22) we must use other criteria. Other studies have been done on how to test prophecies / prophetic actions and the reader is referred to these.

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